NEED TO KNOW PHILIPPINES The Corner Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is no stranger to incendiary language or controversial policies. Since taking office in June 2016, he's called former President Barack Obama a "son of a whore," trivialized the rape of an Australian missionary during a prison riot, and launched...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL/PALESTINE Couscous and Quagmires An argument recently erupted on social media after Virgin Airlines offered a “Palestinian couscous salad” on a flight menu. The BBC reported that pro-Israel activists called for a boycott of the British carrier for pandering to Palestinian sympathizers. “I thought this was an...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW PERU The Odebrecht Web Construction projects have ground to a halt in Peru, where a scandal involving the Brazilian contracting giant Odebrecht threatens to cause an economic and political crisis. The name Odebrecht should ring bells for anyone who has been following the string of corruption...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW POLAND Airbrushing History Soviet censors famously erased people out of photos to suit the political winds of the day – cutting out former comrades of Joseph Stalin over the years as they lost favor, for example, until he was the only person in a picture...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW ETHIOPIA The Road Less Traveled Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned out of the blue last week in an attempt to ease the nation into political reforms demanded by parts of the electorate after years of unrest. The move is unprecedented in Ethiopia. Political transitions in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW MALDIVES White Sands and Despots The Maldives is a lush place, a high-end vacation destination with white sands, turquoise waters, rich reefs and small, quiet islands that attract travelers and honeymooners from around the world. These days, though, there is trouble in this Indian Ocean paradise...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM Paint by Numbers It's been a year and a half since Britons delivered a shock to the world by narrowly voting to leave the European Union. Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Theresa May picked up the Brexit baton and set off to paint the future...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CHINA No Return Policy It's no secret that China has sought to expand its influence in recent decades over the African continent by way of large-scale infrastructural and business investments. Recent figures by cross-border investment monitor fDi Markets place Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa at...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SOUTH AFRICA Drying Up Due to the worst drought in over a century, rapid climate change and a swelling population, Cape Town is expected to run out of water in less than three months, USA Today reported. At the same time, people across South Africa are...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW VATICAN Man in the Mirror Pope Francis took the opportunity during his annual Christmas address to give Vatican officials a tongue-lashing for their ambition and vanity, nagging issues he sees as a "cancer" within the church. "Reforming Rome is like cleaning the Egyptian sphinxes with a...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW CYPRUS Fault Lines Some islands just don't seem to get a break: These small nations are often directly in the path of nature's fury. But Cyprus hasn't been hit by a hurricane. The European Union's easternmost member is embroiled in a financial and political scandal –...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW MALAYSIA 'Islam Sells' Muslims occupy a majority in Malaysian society, comprising some 61.3 percent of the population, according to official statistics, and have long lived in relative harmony with a diverse population of Buddhists, Christians and Hindus. While it's the nation's official religion, Islam has largely...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW IRAN It's the Economy, Stupid In Iran, the new year brought tidings of insecurity for the nation’s theocratic elite, as thousands took to the streets in protests that lasted several days, killed dozens and presented the most significant threat to the country’s Islamic hierarchy in...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW IVORY COAST Bittersweet Symphony Deemed the continent’s fastest growing economy in 2016 by the International Monetary Fund, and still the world’s largest producer of cocoa, the Ivory Coast is leaps and bounds ahead of many other nations in Africa in terms of economic prowess, development...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW COLOMBIA The Ticking Clock After some five decades of war and years of bitter negotiations, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos managed to secure a peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in November 2016 – promising an end to a brutal conflict...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW PALESTINE Blurred Lines To some, she's a modern-day Joan of Arc. To others, she's as an instigator of violence against the Israeli state. Conflicting narratives notwithstanding, 16-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi is intensifying the debate over rule-of-law in Israel. On Jan. 1, Israeli military prosecutors indicted Tamimi...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW MEXICO Welcome to the Badlands A recent tweet from the Oval Office notwithstanding, Mexico is not the most dangerous or most violent country in the world. But as a presidential election approaches, the country logged a record high number of murders last year, and the...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW SWEDEN Breaking the Rules Conventional wisdom has it that low taxes spur businesses to invest and grow, and that social-welfare programs breed lazy people looking for handouts. Sweden’s booming startup scene – call it Silicon Valley North – suggests otherwise. Known for multibillion-dollar firms like Spotify...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The New Mercenaries A little more than a decade after a deadly Baghdad shootout sparked concerns that private military contractors had spiraled out of control, the United Arab Emirates is hiring former CIA agents and special forces operators to build its own...
Read full story →NEED TO KNOW RUSSIA Close Encounters Close encounters and near misses with Russia’s navy and air force have grown common since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in Syria – raising fears of an accidental escalation in what increasingly looks like a modern-day Cold War. On Christmas Day, Britain’s...
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